Genre
Biography / Memoir
Setting and Context
America, ranging from before World War II to after the end of the war
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is the author, Monica Sone. She tells the story of her early life from her own perspective as a young woman.
Tone and Mood
The tone is one of confusion and discombobulation, and there is a mood of suspicion when it comes to Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Monica is the protagonist; both her new American community and her Japanese family are the antagonists because both groups make her feel as though she does not belong with them.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the memoir is World War II.
Climax
Monica attends an international college which enables her to embrace both sides of her heritage.
Foreshadowing
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor foreshadows the growing distrust of Japanese Americans.
Understatement
Pearl Harbor is said to be lifechanging but it was far more than that; it brought America more fully into the war and also decimated the lives of the people on the island.
Allusions
The book alludes to the political situations at the time, specifically pertaining to the way in which the Japanese were viewed after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Imagery
No specific examples.
Paradox
Monica does not feel like she fits in with her American community because she is viewed as Japanese. She also does not fit in with her extended family in Japan because they consider her to be too American.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the way in which both Americans and Japanese treat her as an outsider.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"The Japanese" is the term used to refer to all of the people in the internment camps during World War II as they were all viewed in the same way, even if they were first generation Japanese Americans.
Personification
No specific examples.
